Neoclassicism compared to Romanticism

Neoclassicism and Romanticism are two very different movements in art history.  Neoclassicism is very traditional, orderly and stoic.  Neoclassic art pays homage to Rome and Greece, the spirit of patriotism, and honor.  Neoclassic paintings and sculptures are calm and rational.  Neoclassic art pays attention to detail because of straight hard line structures in paintings and sculptures, there is very little color, and brushstrokes are not visible.  Neoclassic art is moral and inspirational you feel the divine in neoclassic art.  Generally figures in neoclassic art will be in the foreground.

Neoclassic painters Jaqcques-Louis David and Jean-Germain Drouais
had a patrimonious and contentious relationship and their contention
with each other played out in their paintings. Drouais was the angry young
student who wanted to branch out and felt restrained by the constraints put upon their work by French.  In David's The Oath of the Horatii Between the Hands of Their Father (1785) which Drouais's helped to complete and Drouais's Marius at Minturnae (1786) this conflict is evident.  Drouais's painting just a year after the Horatii is the prime example on canvas of the relationship that existed between the two. Both of these paintings pay homage to Rome, the figures are traditional and patriotic, the color is not vibrant, they are neoclassicism at its best.  The distinct difference between these two paintings is point of view.  The young soldier in Minturnae is shielding his face whereas the Horatii depicts a father passing his authority to his sons.  Drouais's felt that there was nothing more David could teach him and put his feelings on canvas.  

                          

Romanticism on the other hand is based almost purely on emotion. Romantic paintings and sculptures value imagination and intuition.  Most of the images from the Romantic period in art lend from nature and the Middle and Far East for inspiration and you see characteristics from the Baroque and Medieval.  Romantic art and sculpture is subjective, does not conform, and is spontaneous.  Romantic subjects are generally legends and extremely exotic there is also focus on nature.  You will also see a lot of violence depicted in Romanticism.  Curvy lines, visible brushstrokes, deep rich colors(you see more shades of blues and yellows).  Romantic art is very dramatic and you are drawn into the paintings.  The figures in Romantic art are very crowded and generally have a zenith.

Romantic painters Theodore Gericault and Eugene Delacroix had almost the same relationship that David and Drouais's had with each other.  In Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa (1819) and Delacroix's The 28th of July: Liberty Leading the People (1830) the spectator or viewer sees all the elements of Romanticism in both.  The colors are very vibrant and these paintings evoke emotion of freedom and liberty.  Both paintings are non-conformist and the brushstrokes are visible.  If you could have these paintings face each other the slave at the zenith of Gericault's Medusa would be looking into the eyes of what came to be the study for the Statue of Liberty in Delacroix's Liberty.
                                    

Romanticism ultimately prevailed because of the same movement from neoclassic to romantic going on in Literature at the time.  Emotion became more important than reason.  Scientific discovery was not that important in a new emerging industrial society.  People were protesting and their was revolution because working class people were tried of being oppressed by the aristocratic and political views of the late 18th century.

Link

Eisenman, Stephen M. Nineteenth Century Art: A Critical History. 4th ed. New York, NY: Thames & Hudson, 2011. Print